Marion Shaw was born in the slums, left an orphan at a young age with only her drug-addict brother for family left. To say she is perfect for the job of bloodmaid is an understatement, especially for indenture (employment it was certainly not) at the House of Hunger.

I was excited for this book, the blurb had me waiting for the release but it fell a bit flat for me in the end. In fact, the end was the most exhilarating part. The characters are all very one dimensional and I felt like I really couldn't connect with them because not much was explained - it was just meant to be understood that this society feasts on human blood and being a bloodmaid was a coveted position, especially for young women in need of a societal uplift and a hearty pension. Not a lot of men in the story, which is fine honestly but why don't young men become blood...servants? It's all very female-centric (which as I said is totally fine.)

Then there is the plot itself which, for a standalone, felt very slow going. I said to myself a few times "let's get this wagon rolling already". Thankfully it didn't drag too much as it's not a very long book.

Basically: decent book, interesting storyline, but could have been more...epic?...exciting?...thrilling? And for me it wasn't any of those.